When Things Fall Apart
by mariposa510
Summary: A reimagining of 4x04 "Killer in High Heels." Mostly, filling in pieces we didn't get to see in the show, but also how things might have turned out if they didn't manage to solve the case right away! Not Rizzles, but I'm sure you can read into it if you'd like. :)
1. Chapter 1

As Jane and Frost pulled up outside Maura's house, the knot in Jane's stomach was growing tighter and tighter. She simply couldn't believe she was about to do this.

She was about to walk up to her best friend's house and arrest her. For murder.

If this didn't qualify as one of the worst days of her life, she didn't know what did.

To make matters worse, Frost kept trying to surreptitiously glance at her out of the corner of his eye, trying to gauge her emotions. She knew Frost and Korsak were worried about her, about how this situation would affect her. But right now, she just wished they could wipe the pitying looks off their faces and DO something to help Maura.

Catching yet another side glance from Frost, Jane sighed. She couldn't put this off any longer.

She climbed from the car and joined her partners as they walked up the drive to Maura's house. With every step, the knot in Jane's stomach pulled tighter.

From her right side, she heard Frost say quietly, "You don't have to do this, you know."

Korsak immediately chimed in, "Yeah, this has gotta be hard for you, Jane. It won't be easy on us either...but at least you wouldn't be the one who arrested her."

Jane really did appreciate the gesture, and she almost took them up on it. But Maura was HER best friend, and Jane wanted her friend to know, even as she was arrested, that someone still cared. That she wasn't alone. Jane would be there every step of the way that she could.

"No, thanks guys," she said in a hoarse voice, "It has to be me. I owe her that much." Korsak sighed, but nodded his understanding, and he and Frost fell in behind Jane as they reached the front steps.

Jane lifted her fist, resting it against her mouth as she worked up the courage to knock. Finally, she rapped several times on the door. It didn't take long for Maura to answer, and she smiled when she saw who her visitor was.

Jane's throat constricted when Maura immediately moved to let her in, like it was any other night and she had come for dinner and a movie. Maura began telling her about her problems getting Bass the tortoise to eat, and Jane reluctantly moved over the threshold of the door.

When Maura straightened from patting Bass on the shell, she noticed the other detectives for the first time. It didn't take long for Maura to piece it all together, and her eyes widened in shock and fear. "Oh no," she whispered, when she realized why Jane was really there.

Jane radiated sympathy and grief as she said, "I'm so sorry..." Then, gathering every ounce of strength she had, Jane forced herself to say the words she had been dreading since this entire ordeal started. "Maura Isles," she choked out, "you are under arrest for the murder of Brad Adams."

Maura stood there, looking from one friend to the next, shock apparent in her body language. Jane wanted to cry at the lost look on her best friend's face. And she wanted nothing more at that moment than to pull Maura into a hug and tell her that everything would be ok. But she couldn't hug Maura right now. And she didn't know that everything would be ok. So instead Jane stood and watched her friend struggle to pull herself together.

After a moment of silence, Jane knew she might have to jolt Maura into some kind of reaction. Taking a hesitant step forward, she said softly, "Maura?"

Maura blinked, shook her head slightly, and muttered, "Shoes. I need to get my shoes."

Jane reached out to touch her arm, stilling her movement toward the bedroom. "It's ok, I'll get them, Maura."

Maura nodded, and Jane walked to the bedroom closet. The first pair of shoes she saw were Maura's running shoes. While those would be the first ones Jane would choose, she knew her friend well enough to picture her normal reaction. _Those shoes with this outfit?_ Instead, Jane reached past the tennis shoes for the comfortable pair of black flats in the next row.

When she came back out to the foyer, Maura was talking softly to Korsak and absently stroking Bass's shell. Jane heard the last of the conversation as she rounded the corner. "He loves British strawberries, but he shouldn't have them more than a couple times a week, or he'll get sick," Maura murmured.

Korsak replied gently, "Don't worry, Doc. I'll take good care of him, you have my word on that."

Maura nodded, and stood up to put on the shoes that Jane handed her. She looked calm, but Jane could see the fear in her eyes. Maura dropped her arms to her sides and asked in a small voice, "What happens now?"

In response, Jane wordlessly pulled her handcuffs from her belt, turning them over a couple times in her hands anxiously. Maura looked at the handcuffs, unconsciously rubbed her wrists, blinked back tears, and nodded. She turned around and placed her hands behind her, trembling slightly.

Jane had never hated herself more than in that moment. She was gentler than she had probably ever been with any suspect, and she squeezed Maura's hand when it was done. Instead of directing her along by the arm, Jane placed a gentle hand on Maura's back to guide her to the car.

Korsak locked the front door behind them, and Frost made sure Maura didn't hit her head when she climbed into the backseat.

At the last minute, Jane decided she wouldn't be able to ride all the way to the jail with Maura handcuffed in the backseat without losing it. She tossed the keys to Frost, who got the message.

Leaning in next to Maura, Jane said, "I'll be in the other car with Korsak. I'll meet you there, I promise." Maura drew a shaky breath and nodded. Jane pulled back before either of them could break down and walked to Korsak's car, brushing tears from her face as soon as she could be sure Maura could no longer see her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews so far! It's been a long time since I attempted a fic as involved as I think this one is going to become, so please keep the reviews coming to give me motivation! I probably should have done the disclaimer in the last chapter, especially since I used actual stuff from the episode...but consider it disclaimed from now on. :-) Also, this fic won't be Rizzles. Sorry. :-( But, as with the show, I'm sure you can read into it if you'd like!**

* * *

The arrival at the jail was a whirlwind of memories for Maura. She barely remembered the drive, concentrating as she was on not breaking into tears every second. It was strangely surreal to her to be in the backseat of Frost's car with handcuffs around her wrists.

When they pulled through the gate outside the jail entrance, Frost looked at her through the rear view mirror. He smiled sympathetically and said, "Don't worry, Doc. We'll get this figured out and you'll be out of here in no time."

Maura remembered nodding to him, but by that point her full attention was on the building in front of her and what waited for her inside.

True to her word, Jane was there to help Maura out of the car. She walked her up the stairs, but paused before signaling the guard inside to open the door.

She gently turned Maura to face her. Maura's wide, scared eyes locked onto Jane's. Jane took hold of both Maura's shoulders and leaned in, keeping steady eye contact.

"You will be fine," she said with conviction, as though to convince both herself and Maura. "You're strong, and you can do this. You WILL survive this. I promise. Remember that."

Maura nodded, trying desperately to believe what Jane had said. Jane forced a small smile, and then turned to gesture to the guard to let them inside.

She remembered standing in front of a chest-high counter. The woman behind the counter barely glanced up when Maura was placed in front of her. Jane stood next to her and finally removed the handcuffs from Maura's wrists.

"Full name." The jail official never looked up, and Maura didn't realize at first that the woman was addressing her. Slightly annoyed, the woman glanced up and repeated more forcefully, "Name."

"Oh...Maura Dorthea Isles," she recited.

Satisfied that the new prisoner wasn't trying to be difficult, the woman looked back down at her form and continued. "Date and place of birth."

And on it went for several more minutes. Maura answered more questions than she could remember.

Personal background: "Age? Place of residence? Any aliases?"

Physical characteristics: "Height? Weight? Tattoos or other distinguishing marks?"

Criminal history: "Any previous arrests or convictions?"

Medical history: "Do you take any medication? Any conditions or illnesses?"

Finally, she was instructed to stand with her back against the wall. A camera snapped with no warning. The woman behind the counter told her to turn to her right. Again, the camera snapped. And to the left. The camera snapped one more time.

Another woman came around from the counter with a clear plastic bag in her hands. She held it out to Maura and said, "Take off your shoes, belt, and any jewelry. Place it inside the bag and seal it. These items will be returned to you when you leave." Maura followed the instructions, feeling a little silly standing on the cold concrete floor barefoot.

She was then ushered back up to the counter and told to place her hands on an electronic fingerprint pad. The machine scanned her fingerprints, instantly linking them up with state and national databases, Maura knew. She was officially "in the system". Of course, her prints had been in the system for years as the Chief Medical Examiner. But knowing she was now on file with an arrest record was extremely unsettling.

Maura looked up again when the woman behind the counter spoke. "Ok, Detective, if you'll just sign at the bottom of the form, we'll take it from here." Maura hadn't even realized that Jane was still in the room with her, and she felt suddenly slightly ashamed that her friend had watched her go through booking.

Jane grimaced sadly at Maura and picked up the pen on the counter. She hesitated for a moment before she signed the form, officially turning Maura over to the custody of the Boston Women's Jail.

Suddenly, Maura realized that Jane couldn't go any further with her through this process. She was about to be completely on her own. All thoughts of shame about Jane seeing her in this position fled her mind, and she wished desperately that she could have more time with her best friend. Jane had been her rock so far, and she was terrified to do this alone.

Jane met her eyes once again, and Maura could practically hear her repeating her words from earlier. _You can do this. You will survive this. You can do this_.

Behind Maura, a door opened with a buzz and a clang. A guard appeared on the other side and told Maura to follow her down the hall. Maura looked at Jane one last time over her shoulder and tried to muster up a smile. She didn't think she quite managed.

As the door behind her swung shut, Maura heard a loud thump from the other room. She tried to turn and see what had made the noise, but the door was already closing. She never saw Jane Rizzoli turn and kick the counter as hard as she could.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yay, a bonus chapter! I originally had this as one chapter, but it seemed too long, so I cut it in two. I did try to do some research on this whole process, but as before, everything I know about jail comes from TV or the Internet. No flames if its not accurate, please!**

* * *

Maura had thought having Jane and Susie process her clothing in the interrogation room at the station had been the most humiliating experience she would ever have.

She had been wrong.

After booking, Maura followed a guard down a series of twisting hallways. She had been inside the jail before to process prisoners, but she had always been following Jane or a guard. She was also positive she had never been in this section of the building before.

Finally, they came through a door into a tiled room with three semi-open shower stalls along one wall and a row of shelves on another. Maura was instructed to stand against the empty wall. The guard stood a few feet away, facing her.

Holding another plastic bag, the guard stated calmly, "As I tell you to, remove each piece of clothing, shake it out, and hand it to me. Do not remove more than one item of clothing at a time. Start with the sweater."

Maura had known this was coming. She had hoped that going through this with a stranger would be easier than it had been with Jane and Susie. But she had been wrong. If anything, this was more humiliating. The guard wasn't cruel. She wasn't taunting or mocking. She was calm and professional...and somehow that was just as bad. Maura didn't feel like a person at that moment. She was simply a part of the job that had to be done. A procedure to be followed. Just another inmate to be processed.

Maura removed her sweater, shook it in front of her, and handed it to the guard, who put the sweater into the plastic bag. Then they continued with Maura's tank top, pants, bra, and underwear. Finally, Maura stood naked in front of the guard. She was by no means ashamed of her body, but it was humiliating not have even the choice to cover herself if she wanted.

When the bag with Maura's clothing was sealed, the guard turned back to her. "Now, lean forward, and shake out your hair." Maura did as she was told. Next she had to show the guard behind her ears, and inside of her mouth, moving her tongue around to make sure she wasn't hiding anything underneath it. She was even told to lift each breast, to be sure nothing was taped to the underside.

Maura complied with every order, but she cringed at the next set of instructions.

"Turn around, squat down low to the floor, and cough hard." At Maura's confused and slightly alarmed look, the guard sighed. "We gotta make sure you're not hiding anything inside of you either."

Maura almost laughed out loud. The idea was so ludicrous, that she might be smuggling something into the jail in her body. But she knew it had happened before with other inmates, and she didn't want to risk any consequences of refusing to comply with the procedure.

Cheeks burning at the humiliation, Maura turned to face the wall, crouched down as low as she could, and forced a cough.

Satisfied that Maura wasn't hiding anything, the guard told her to stand up and gestured to the shower stalls. "You've got three minutes."

Relieved to be finished with this part of the nightmare, Maura hurried over to the showers. The pressure was good, but the water was only warm, not as hot as Maura would have liked.

Her two minutes were up all too quickly, and the guard handed her a towel. She pointed to a bundle of clothing on a bench and said, "Get dressed. I'll be back to get you in a couple minutes."

Maura wrapped the towel around her body and moved to survey her new clothing as the guard left the room. For the first time since this whole ordeal started, Maura was alone.

On the bench were a pair of white underwear, a white bra (no underwire, of course), a short sleeved white t-shirt, a neon orange jumpsuit, a pair of white socks, and black shoes with rubber soles and no shoelaces.

With each item that Maura put on, she felt less and less like herself. She was no longer Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Now she was just another inmate in an orange jumpsuit.

Before her guard returned, Maura toweled her hair dry as best she could. Deciding that she probably wouldn't be allowed to keep the towel, she dropped it onto the bench. But suddenly, that felt wrong. Maura Isles never just dropped a towel in a heap. And she WAS still Maura Isles, even in here. She reached down, picked up the towel, and very neatly folded it before returning it to the bench.

She WAS still Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. _You can do this. You will survive this. You can do this._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Shifting a little now to give us another look at Jane's perspective. In this fic, I decided to use Dr. Pike, because even though he's terrible, it seems much more logical to assign him to the case than "Pickled Popov." I hope you enjoy! Please let me know if you like how it's going!**

* * *

Jane stormed back up from the morgue with a scowl on her face, and threw herself into her desk chair. It wasn't just her conversation with that idiot, Pike, that had her all riled up. She was also frustrated at their lack of evidence to help clear Maura. The M.E. was a little goofy and a little weird, but she Jane KNEW she didn't do this. She didn't care what that self-defense video showed; Maura couldn't have done this.

The detective was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a sharp "Rizzoli!" from the direction of the Lieutenant's office. She looked up to find him standing in his doorway, looking less than pleased about something. He gestured to her with one hand. "My office. Now."

Jane groaned as she slowly stood up. This couldn't be good.

As soon as she closed the door behind her, Cavanaugh turned to face her and folded his arms across his chest. "I just had a very long conversation with Dr. Pike," he stated.

"My condolences, sir," Jane deadpanned.

Cavanaugh kept his straight face, but Jane thought she saw a corner of his mouth quirk up for a second before he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know, he's a dick. But he's made an accusation that's hard for me to ignore, Rizzoli."

When Jane raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to respond, Cavanaugh cut her off. "He says you threatened him, and told him that he'd better find some evidence to clear Dr. Isles. There any truth to that?"

* * *

_Jane stood impatiently next to the autopsy table, waiting for Pike to finally begin his autopsy. She shifted from one foot to another, anxious about what Pike would conclude. Her previous experience with Pike's professionalism (or lack thereof), didn't exactly inspire confidence that he would find something to help Maura. _

_After much clanking about and moving around of instruments, Pike finally began his analysis. "Victim is an adult male, mid to late thirties. Brown hair, average build." _

_Jane bit back a groan at the slow pace and forced herself to be patient and not interrupt. She needed Pike's full attention on this autopsy. _

_"Extensive bruising present around the victim's throat." Pike began to measure the bruised area, noting its location and coloration. _

_Unable to stop herself, Jane jumped in, asking, "Is that the cause of death?" _

_Pike looked annoyed at the interruption, but turned to answer the detective. "I can't be sure until I've finished my autopsy, but yes, it appears that blunt force trauma to the throat crushed his trachea and caused death by asphyxiation." _

_He turned back to the body and his voice shifted to a more contemplative tone. "Amazing that someone as demure as Dr. Isles could have inflicted this brutal of an injury. Although," he snorted, "I suppose it isn't that much of a stretch. I myself have been on the receiving end of her foul temper more than once." _

_Jane was seething, but she tried valiantly to hold HER temper in check. Punching the medical examiner in the face probably wouldn't help Maura much. _

_Oblivious, Pike continued talking to himself. "Of course, there is some research that suggests a genetic component to violence. Dr. Isles is the daughter of a notorious mobster, after all. And to think, all this time I've been laboring under a woman who could have snapped at any moment! I told the governor he was making a mistake in appointing her..." _

_Then again, Jane thought, Maura would probably understand if she got just one good punch in... _

_Deciding against violence, but unable to hold in her anger any longer, Jane rounded on Pike. "Look," she growled, "I know you think you ought to be the one sitting in that chair. You probably think you're more qualified, although God knows why...and you might be thinking that this is your chance to finally get the position you deserve." _

_She stepped closer, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "But listen carefully. If I find out for one second that you're not doing your absolute best work of all time on this case, I will personally make sure you're never able to sit in any chair ever again. Got it?" _

_Pike took an involuntary step back, his eyes widening at the detective's threatening manner. Unable to summon any words, he simply nodded. _

_Jane stepped back, ripped off the paper protective apron, and headed for the doors that led out of the autopsy room. Glancing back over her shoulder once, she threw back an order at the stunned Dr. Pike. "Hurry up with that autopsy and find me something that I can use to solve this case." _

_She hit the swinging doors with more force than was necessary and stomped toward the elevator. Pike had touched her last nerve, and she knew she was probably going to regret that little display... _

* * *

Jane quickly held up a placating hand to the lieutenant. "I did NOT use those words, sir," she hurriedly assured him. Getting a little agitated at the ridiculousness of the accusation, her voice rose. "I told that jackass that he'd better find us some evidence we could actually USE to find the REAL killer."

"The real killer, Rizzoli?" Cavanaugh questioned, but his voice and face had softened.

Jane reacted as though the lieutenant had slapped her across the face. She took a step forward, her voice completely serious. "Maura didn't do this, Cavanaugh. She didn't. She couldn't."

"I know you think Dr. Isles is innocent, Rizzoli. And for the record, so do I." Jane relaxed slightly when she heard this admission, but she tensed up immediately at Cavanaugh's next words.

His arms had fallen to his sides, and he looked simultaneously exasperated, worried, and a little sad. "I know she's your best friend, and for the moment I'm keeping you on this case out of professional courtesy to the doc. You and your team are my best detectives, and I know that if Dr. Isles really is innocent, you guys'll figure it out."

He took a step closer, and the lieutenant's stern mask was back in place. "But get this straight, Rizzoli. If you can't keep at least a little bit of objectivity here, you'll become a liability, and I'll have no choice but to take you off this case. Understood, detective?"

Jane opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it when she saw the dead seriousness in Cavanaugh's eyes. Slowly, reluctantly, she nodded and said "Yes, sir."

Satisfied that his message had been received, Cavanaugh stepped back. "From now on, stay away from Pike. You need anything from the morgue, you send Frost or Korsak."

Unable to stop herself, Jane snorted. "You really think they'll be able to put up with him better than I do?" She smirked, thinking of Korsak's groan when he heard they'd have to work this case with Pike.

This time, Cavanaugh did smile, but there was also a hint of a grimace in it. "Not normally, no. But they will when I get finished talking to them. Now, get back to work, detective. There's still a murder to solve."

"Yes, sir," Jane said as she left the lieutenant's office. _And this may be the most important case I ever solve. _

From across the room, Frost called out for her, "Jane! A guard from the women's jail just called for you. She said Maura wants to see you about something, as soon as you can."

Hurriedly thanking Frost, Jane grabbed her jacket and keys from her desk and headed straight for her car. If they were lucky, Maura had come up with a break in the case. If not...well, at least she would have an excuse to visit her friend and make sure she was ok.


End file.
